The proliferation of networks, and the widespread acceptance of the Internet as a communication and distribution channel in particular, have presented a number of opportunities for pay media content distribution. Specifically, broadband Internet Protocol (IP) networking and satellite technologies have provided a number of new opportunities for publishing and media content distribution worldwide. The ability of networks to support resource-intensive media, such as streaming media multicasting, is growing rapidly as satellite and broadband IP technologies allow content and service providers to distribute high-quality video to millions of subscribers simultaneously.
However, these opportunities have been accompanied by concerns regarding content piracy and digital rights management (DRM). A challenge facing traditional pay media distributors is to enable content providers to control their proprietary content, while maintaining the flexibility to distribute media content widely. The increased distribution potential heightens the need to protect and secure media content. For example, a content provider may have particular concerns regarding preventative measures to minimize the possibility of premium content falling into wrong hands, and the enforcement of copyrights.
Conditional Access (CA) technology for traditional broadcasting systems is based on implementing business rules in a secure device (e.g., a smart card) located at the subscriber receiving device. Access to content is controlled by encrypting the content with a key. The secure device will only release this key to the decrypting device if the subscriber fulfills the access conditions set by the operator. A problem with such security systems is that the secure devices in the field need to be replaced when new business rules are introduced or when the security system is ‘hacked’. When a large number of secure devices in the field need to be updated, it will be appreciated that the cost implications are significant. In the case of large numbers this can be a very expensive exercise.
The Internet is becoming a platform for content delivery to millions of users worldwide. Using the Internet for secure content delivery introduces several problems. For example, standard Client/Server systems often cannot handle the load associated with large pay-per-view events, as a single central security server is typically not equipped to handle millions of events in a short time period. Further, standard Client/Server systems typically require that a single content encryption key be shared by all users, rendering such systems vulnerable to key hook piracy (extracting the key and distributing the key to unauthorized users). Distributed security systems to manage access to content (e.g., LDAP) partially address the first problem identified above, but do not protect the content encryption keys from unauthorized operators.
A rapidly growing broadband Internet audience is making the Internet an exciting place to stream audio and video directly to millions of users worldwide. To overcome Internet congestion, streaming media may be pushed to the edges of the Internet (e.g., to the ISP's), where it is cached and from where the media can be streamed at high quality to the end user. Content owners are increasingly using the Internet are a platform to deliver high quality programming to a large and rapidly growing audience. However, content providers are often reluctant to put premium content on the Internet, as digital content can easily be stored, forwarded and copied without any degradation by any user with a computer and a (broadband) Internet connection. Copy protection standards, such as those specified by 5C, at the end user device using a physical secure device for decryption are expensive and somewhat unsafe. An experienced hacker can typically break into the secure device and retrieve the decrypted content and redistribute the content anonymously or, in a worst-case scenario, retrieve a decryption key and redistribute the content anonymously.
Watermarking techniques at the end user device using a physical secure device                may be expensive and unsafe, as any experienced hacker can break into the secure device and “catch” the content before it is watermarked.        
When content is encrypted and distributed to a large group of subscribers via a communications network, there exists a danger that one of the subscribers may decrypt the content and, during the decryption process, extract a content (or product) encryption key that was used by a content provider to encrypt the content. Assuming the encrypted content is easily available for unauthorized users, this allows for so-called “key hook piracy” whereby the fraudulent, authorized user distributes the product key to unauthorized users, possibly together with the encrypted content. Distributing a single content encryption key over a communications network, such as the Internet, can be done very efficiently.
When a content provider wants to secure and sell premium content for distribution over a large worldwide network, such as the Internet, there are a number of functions and systems that may need to be installed for a successful implementation. For example, secure storage and distribution of content encryption (or product) keys may be required to prevent exposure of the content (or product) encryption keys to a fraudulent operator or user. The exposure of such content encryption keys may result in a significant loss of revenue because of piracy. Further, a secure and scaleable key distribution system, which can manage a large number of subscribers simultaneously, may need to be in place. A scalable key distribution system may become critical to distribute content associated with large-scale live events. The implementation and operational costs associated with system software and hardware required to implement these functions may be high for a single content provider.
Current hardware-based content security solutions typically combine user authentication and content security in one module (e.g., a single smart card or other tamper proof environment is used to authenticate the user and store/process content keys). This arrangement does not allow for situations in which a user orders content, using a secure identification device (such as a PKI-enabled banking smart card or mobile device including a PKI-enabled SIM chip), and views the content using a copy-protected viewing device other than a viewing device that is integral with the secure identification device. For example, the user may wish to access the content utilizing a copy-protected device that is not linked with a specific user, and that can therefore not be used to identify the user.
Content licenses, such as those implemented by Microsoft Windows Media Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology and Intel ISIS, are signed by a private key of the license issuer as proof of the authenticity of the license to a content player (e.g., a set-top box). The signature of the content license with a private key prevents hackers from altering valid licenses and generating invalid licenses. However, assigning a license utilizing a private key operation is computationally expensive when a large number of simultaneous transactions are required. In addition, the implementation and operational costs of managing private keys and associated certificate authorities may be prohibitive.
Networks (e.g., the Internet) are becoming increasingly attractive to content providers as alternative distribution platforms for content, next to traditional TV broadcasting. It is desirable to provide a content distributor with a degree of geographic control over the distribution of content and to enable a content distributor to block users in certain countries or regions from accessing certain content. For example, a sports club may want to distribute a live game over the Internet worldwide, but may need to block users in certain countries from accessing the content due to exclusive broadcasting rights that have been sold to national broadcasters.
Traditional network-based pay media solutions require users to register payment information (e.g., credit card details) with a content distributor. This approach poses a number of burdens on users. Specifically, users may be required to provide financial information to companies (e.g., content distributors) that they do not trust. Further, users may be required to provide substantially identical financial information to a large number of content distributors if a user obtains content from a variety of sources. These burdens potentially create a barrier to entry for users.